ORIGINAL ARTICLE A New Quantitative Model for Comprehensive Geodiversity Evaluation: the Škocjan Caves Regional Park, Slovenia Uroš Stepišnik 1 & Aleksandra Trenchovska 1 Received: 7 June 2016 /Accepted: 26 January 2017 # The European Association for Conservation of the Geological Heritage 2017 Abstract The article presents a simple quantitative model for geodiversity evaluation, which merges spatial relationship of geodiversity elements with terrain data. The model is partially automated in geographic information system tools to elimi- nate the majority of subjectivity in evaluation. As a result, it can be used for different environment types and is applicable for comparative studies. The method was applied to the Škocjan Caves Regional Park, which is one of the most di- verse karst areas in the world. The geodiversity element types were identified through remote sensing data and basic field mapping. Their diversity was subsequently defined through block statistic tools in a geographic information system pro- gramme. The geodiversity index was calculated from a num- ber of different geodiversity element types within defined spa- tial units and from the terrain ruggedness index. Areas of high geodiversity index or geodiversity hotspots are in strong cor- relation with the most diverse areas of the regional park, which are also currently promoted for geotouristic and educational purposes. Keywords Geodiversity . Mapping . Block statistics . Geodiversity hotspot . Karst Introduction The diversity of nature is supposed to be determined by both biotic and abiotic components. Nevertheless, a great deal of natural variability attention is devoted solely to biodiversity enhancement and protection (Pettersson and Keskitalo 2013). The current focus of the scientific community on biodiversity became widespread after the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 (Serrano and Ruiz-Flaño 2007). Geological and geomorphological conservation in many countries gener- ally commenced in the late twentieth century although in places began as early as the early nineteenth century. The general term ‘nature conservation’, which has been practised for almost 200 years, has focused most or all of its attention to ‘wildlife conservation’, almost entirely neglecting the role of abiotic elements in the natural diversity (Gray 2013; Melelli 2014). The concept of geodiversity succeeds the one of biodiver- sity. It was introduced widely around two decades ago due to renewed interest in the conservation and evaluation of abiotic elements of the natural environment (Gray 2013; de Paula Silva et al. 2014). The contemporary term geodiversity com- prises the natural diversity of geological (rocks, minerals, fos- sils), geomorphological (landforms, physical processes) and soil features (Gray 2013). According to various authors, the term also incorporates features resulting from anthropogenic processes as well as topographic and hydrographic compo- nents of the nature (Serrano and Ruiz-Flaño 2007; de Paula Silva et al. 2014). Nowadays, the geodiversity definition, evaluation and rec- ognition are acquiring significance within Earth Sciences (Gray 2013; Melelli 2014) due to geoconservation manage- ment, geotourism enhancement and educational aspects. Established methods of geodiversity evaluation merged * Uroš Stepišnik uros.stepisnik@gmail.com Aleksandra Trenchovska aleksandra.trenc@gmail.com 1 Department of Geography, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia Geoheritage DOI 10.1007/s12371-017-0216-5